A quintessential fan tribute and a celebration of Feluda on the occasion of the sleuth's fiftieth anniversary In 1965, Satyajit Ray, drawing from the detective tradition made popular by characters such as Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, created a character who would go on to influence Bengalis of an entire generation: Feluda. And when Soumitra Chatterjee played the dapper detective in the film Sonar Kella, a cult was born. Fifty years later, the cult endures. Every new Feluda film has the box office in a tizzy. Feluda@50 seeks to explore the phenomenon. What makes Feluda tick? What is it that we love about this man? Why is it that every Feluda film continues to run to packed houses for weeks and months on end in an otherwise struggling Bengali film industry? What is the way forward for the franchise in the years to come? What role do Feluda's sidekicks, Topshe and Lalmohan-babu, play? The book also delves deep into Ray's motivations for keeping Feluda cocooned from contemporary politics and never allowing him to have a love interest. Also including in-depth interviews with the three stars who have played Feluda onscreen, this is the quintessential fan tribute and a celebration of Feluda on the occasion of the sleuths fiftieth anniversary.

Sherlock Holmes, Byomkesh Bakshi, and Feluda: Negotiating the Center and the Periphery presents a postcolonial reading of Conan Doyle’s canonical detective texts—Sherlock Holmes adventures, and some lesser known detective texts written by two Bengali (Indian) writers—Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (1899-1970), and Satyajit Ray (1921-1992). The book proposes that in a postcolonial reading situation, the representation of Holmes problematizes the act of reading and also the act and discourse of inquiry. The fact that the Holmes adventures contribute to the hegemonic culture of “Anglo/Eurocentrism” is seen as a reinforcement of racial superiority among the “colonized.” This book studies how literary texts function as a signifier of a particular national identity, and can indicate the cultural construct of a state. It contends that only those texts which cater to the standards of global hierarchy are considered canonical, and indigenous texts, however significant, remain as "Other" literature. The book highlights colonial and postcolonial discourse in the Bengali detective texts and examines, how far Holmes has been able to reinforce racial dominance over the Indian detectives Byomkesh Bakshi and Feluda.

An incident near the desolate Chinnamasta temple on the rocky riverbank of Rajrappa leads to the death of Mahesh Chowdhury, the head of a Hazaribagh family. One of Feluda's most intriguing adventures, this shows the master sleuth at his best.

Seven gripping tales of murder, mystery and intrigue featuring Satyajit Rayýs inimitable super sleuth, Feluda Feludaýs Last Case collects seven cases which span the career of Pradosh Mitter, a.k.a. Feluda. Starting with the first Feluda story, ýDanger in Darjeelingý ( 1965), in which Feluda and Topshe, his young cousin, grapple with anonymous letters, the young, keen-eyed detective grows more mature with each baffling crime he encounters. With amazing mental dexterity Feluda solves a gruesome murder case in ýTrouble in Gangtoký (1970), catches an unusual burglar in ýThe Anubis Mysteryý (1970), unravels the riddle of ýThe Keyý to a treasure (1973), lays a trap for the person who has stolen ýThe Gold Coins of Jehangirý (1983), and deals deftly with a group of kidnappers in ýThe Mystery of Nayaný (1990). The last story in this collection, ýRobertsonýs Rubyý ( 1992) was published after Satyajit Ray passed away, and brings to a close the glorious career of Feluda. In some of the stories Feluda and Topshe are assisted by Lalmohan Babu, alias Jatayu (a bumbling writer of crime fiction), who adds a touch of humour to the gripping action and high drama.

This anthology explores and validate the nuances of Indian popular fiction which has hitherto been hounded by its ubiquitous 'commerical' success. It uncoverspopular in its socio-political and cultural contexts. Furthermore, it investigates the vitality embedded in theory and praxis of popular forms and their insurrections in mutants and new age oeuvres and looks to examine the symbiotic bonds between the reader and the author, as the latter articulates and perpetuates the needs of the former whose demands need continual fulfilment. This constant metamorphosis of the popular fueled by neoliberalism and postmodernity along with the shifts in the publishing industry to more democratic 'reader' driven genres is taken up here along with the millenial's fetish for romance, humanized mythical retellings and the evergreen whodunnits. As its natural soulmates, the anthology delves into the interstices of Indian Popular with desi (local) traditions, folk lore, community consciousness and nation building. Please note: This title is co-published with Aakar Books, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Puts together 16 gripping tales of suspense and mystery featuring Satyajit Ray's inimitable detective Feluda.All of the Feluda stories that Ray wrote are now available together in a two volume set, of which this is the first. For the first time ever, the stories are arranged in chronological order of composition, and one can note Feluda's development from an unkown amateur detective to a famous professional private investigatior.

Popular Cinema in Bengal marks a decisive turn in studies of Bengali language cinema by shifting the focus from auteur and text-based studies to exhaustive readings of the film industry. The book covers a wide range of themes and issues, including: generic tropes (like comedy and action); iconic figurations (of the detective and the city); (female) stars such as Kanan Bala, Sadhana Bose and Aparna Sen; intensities of public debates (subjects of high and low cultures, taste, viewership, gender and sexuality); print cultures (including posters, magazines and song-booklets); cinematic spaces; and trans-media and trans-cultural traffic. By locating cinema within the crosscurrents of geo-political transformations, the book highlights the new and persuasive research that has materialised over the last decade. The authors raise pertinent questions regarding 'regional' cinema as a category, in relation to 'national' cinema models, and trace the non-linear journey of the popular via multiple (media) trajectories. They address subjects of physicality, sexuality and its representations, industrial change, spaces of consumption, and cinema’s meandering directions through global circuits and low-end networks. Highlighting the ever-changing contours of cinema in Bengal in all its popular forms and proposing a new historiography, Popular Cinema in Bengal will be of great interest to scholars of film studies and South-Asian popular culture. The chapters were originally published in the journal South Asian History and Culture.

In one of their hair raising escapades ever. Feluda and Topshe set out for Rajasthan on the trail of the parapsychologist Dr. Hajra and Mukul, a boy who claims he remembers his previous life. After numerous adventures, they reach Mukul's Goden fortress, where Feluda unravels the many strands of a complex case.

An incident near the desolate Chhinnamasta temple on the rocky riverbank of Rajrappa leads to the death of Mahesh Chowdhury, the head of a Hazaribagh family. Adding to the mystery are a set of coded diaries, a valuable stamp collection that is missing and a tiger that is roaming the streets of Hazaribagh. One of Feluda’s most intriguing adventures, this shows the master sleuth at his best.

A boy who can recall his past life. A hint of hidden treasure. An adventure in the desert of Rajasthan . . . In one of their most hair-raising escapades ever, Feluda and Topshe set out for Rajasthan on the trail of the parapsychologist Dr Hajra and Mukul, a boy who claims he remembers his previous life. On the way they meet Jatayu, an author of popular crime thrillers, who decides to accompany them. After numerous adventures, including an impromptu camel ride across the desert, they reach Mukul’s Golden Fortress, where Feluda unravels the many strands of a complex case.